


Beach Boy

by orphan_account



Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, M/M, background chinaline, beach-based!au, chinaline chapter, lame, meanie, mingyu is a nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-23 03:30:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 14,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6103384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mingyu is a hard-working, unpaid intern. Wonwoo is the guy he watches playing volleyball when he gets days off.</p><p>[Thirteen chapters, one epilogue, one chinaline chapter; Meanie is the main pairing but there might be a few background ships here and there.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try writing a humorous multi-chapter. :)  
> Plz forgive the many mistakes I have prolly made; I am but smol bean trying to write \\(´Д`\\)  
> Might end up being a bit short? Idk
> 
> *hope I don't offend anyone w/ stereotypes or anything, it's just my bad attempt at being funny ahaha*

'Ah, to be warm again!' Mingyu thought as he laid out his beach towel on the sand, tiny grains squishing and rippling beneath his feet.

As an intern at a well-known internet communications corporation, Mingyu constantly faced the struggle of a much-too-cold office as sleep-deprived, coffee-loving coding monsters worked day in and day out developing new software and preparing updates. Sometimes, he wondered if he had made the right choice, but he reminded himself what a great salary he would have once they started actually PAYING the tall male. After another six months of the hell that was unpaid internship.

But today, the boss of Mingyu's unit (who was actually only a few years than Mingyu himself, but despite constantly producing pretty lit mixtapes and calling himself S.Coups, felt like a middle-aged dad) had allowed Mingyu the rest of the day off, given that it was 'just such a lovely day and it would be a shame to waste it.'

Thus, Mingyu found himself at the place of choice for all protagonists of lame summer surfing musicals, which was coincidentally the very place most computer science majors tended to avoid. The beach.

It was covered with girls in bikinis whose purpose was apparently not to protect the wearer from the elements but to expose as much as possible, even if the guys thankfully all wore board-style swimwear. Mingyu wasn't sure if his flowery, rainbow-filled gay heart could handle any more hotness than the considerable amount of lean muscle already displayed.

He considered himself for a moment. He certainly wasn't ugly; he had heard girls as well as guys talk about him as he passed. With his chesnut brown hair, tall stature, and great smile, Mingyu had worked hard to look good, and California was a pretty liberal state anways, so being gay wasn't frowned upon for the most part.

He finally gently leaned back on the towel, fully intending to take a good, solid nap, when something hit him right in the stomach.

"Oof!" Mingyu exclaimed, looking around to see who or what hit him. A lone volleyball rolled across his towel, and he figured that the ball was what hit him. 

He picked it up and looked around for the owner of the ball. Soon enough, he spotted a figure running across the sand towards him, and he stood up to greet the newcomer.

"Hey, this yours?" he said as he held out the ball, smiling.

"Yeah," the stranger bent down, his hands on his knees as he tried to get his breath back. "Sorry about that. Stupid fucking Vernon doesn't know his own strength," he muttered in the lowest, sexiest voice Mingyu had ever heard as he stood up again.

Mingyu half expected the owner of  the voice to be horrendously ugly, despite his great physique and amazing voice. There was no way anyone with a voice like that could also look great. It just wouldn't be fair.

Of course, fate chose this day to prove him wrong.

The man had black hair, dark eyes, and wonderful, chiseled features. He smiled apologetically at Mingyu and reached out to take the ball back. 

As it always did when faced with someone attractive, Mingyu's brain went into overdrive. He became hyper-aware of his own actions, the sheen of the sweat barely coating the other's body. He presented the ball, and quickly removed his hands. The last thing Mingyu wanted was to become victim to the awkward clichéd situation in which the protagonist would hold out an object the attractive stranger had dropped, only to keep their hands on it for too long, which would prompt a comment along the lines of "Uh, you can let go now," and cause the main character to blush like a virgin and--

"Hey, you hearin' any of this?" the extremely attractive stranger waved a large hand in front of Mingyu's face. He blinked.

"Sorry, what?" Mingyu asked sheepishly. "Kinda spaced, sorry!"

Hot Stranger chuckled. "I guessed. Just wanted to say thanks, I guess."

"Oh, yeah, no prob." Mingyu immediately replied.

Hot Stranger turned back in the direction he came from and started jogging off with a quick wave of his hand. "Vernon, you jackass!" A loud laugh could be heard in the distance.

Mingyu went back to his nap. He fell asleep to the wonderful memories of a low, melodious voice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu returns from the beach the next day to find the coding office he interns at in complete disarray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There isn't really any meanie this chapter, sorry! I'm trying to crank this out so it's a bit short, seeing as I had less that an hour to write this, but there will be meanie next chapter.

Mingyu returned to the office the next day fresh, well rested, and extremely confused.

All around the break room, sheets of toilet paper hung haphazardly like Ultra Strength streamers.

Peeking his head around the corner into Seungcheol's area, he encountered the boss passed out upon his desk, microphone in one hand and beer bottle in the other.

Jun had his head in the toilet, retching his guts out, leaning on a sleeping Minghao for support. Seokmin had some sort of neon orange cosplay on, complete with whiskers clumsily painted on. Seungkwan seemed a bit hungover, but was otherwise generally cackling at his phone. Soonyoung was nowhere to be found. Jihoon was sobbing about the entertainment value of the Air Bud movies, talking about how they were "unappreciated despite their abundance of wholesome family fun that promotes learning and kindness to animals." Mingyu wasn't quite sure what to think of that coming from the mouth of the branch's most dangerous employee. The elder could transform his computer monitor into a weapon of complete and utter destruction. Mingyu knew. He KNEW.

The only one who seemed to be kind of sane was Jeonghan. The man had his long, dark red hair down as he made coffee.

"Oh hey, Mingyu. I was just making coffee. You want some?"

Just another reason the other was  referred to reverently as "the office angel".

"Sure, thanks," Mingyu replied. "Er, what happened here, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well, it started off as a small  
meeting, but it got...violent, but then Soonyoung showed up with booze and things just really got out of hand."

Just then, a still-cackling Seungkwan tapped Mingyu on the shoulder. "Come with me," he managed to say through snickers.

The intern dutifully followed the other to his computer, where Seungkwan connected his phone with a USB cable. "Take a look at this," he pointed at the screen.

Mingyu laughed. There were pictures of Seokmin and Soonyoung playing Just Dance, Seungcheol rapping up on a desk with a glazed look in his eye, Minghao and Jun using their completely badass martial arts moves in a dance-off, and many, many more.

"Oh, man, you got at least three years' worth of decent blackmail material with this," Mingyu laughed. 

"Yeah, but keep it down. You tell ANYONE, and the Gossip Queen will know. And I will not have mercy."

Mingyu backed away into Seungcheol's office. Thankfully, the other was awake, if only barely coherent, but he was steadily gaining awareness.

"Um, I guess it was a crazy party last night?"

Seungcheol scowled, frowning at the toilet paper decorating the halls. As a nice little touch, someone had written on the paper, 'LEE JIHOON IS A SHORT PIECE OF CUTENESS'. Mingyu made a mental note to avoid Jihoon's cubicle later on; the older employee would, without a doubt, fly into an incessant, monitor-wielding rage at the sight and Mingyu did not want to be around for that.

"We need a break. I can feel the tension around this place, but I'm not quite sure what to do or where to go," Seungcheol said, snapping Mingyu out of his horrific visions of a Jihoon-ruled, post-apocalyptic future.

Suddenly, Mingyu remembered the attractive stranger playing volleyball on the sand.

"Why don't we go to the beach?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for checking out my fic! I'm pretty new to all this but it means a lot *throws confetti*


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu and the gang visit the beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahaha yes I'm back sorry  
> lame chapter i know but eyyy longer-than-usual chapter

"Why don't we go to the beach?" Mingyu suggested. "I think it would be a lot of fun. We could bring a volleyball or something and have a game; that might let us release any negative feelings we may have been harboring."

Seungcheol stared for a moment. Mingyu suddenly became self-conscious. "What?" he asked defensively. "It was just an idea."

"No, it's not that." the manager of the unit shook his head. "I just never took you for the contemplative type. I'm actually considering it. I'll bring it up at lunch. Thanks, Mingyu."

Mingyu left Seungcheol to nurse a headache and a few bruises to his pride. 

                          -

True to his word, the branch leader did bring up going to the beach at lunch break. A good deal of the employees were pissed at having their perfectly good lunch interrupted for a silly field trip, but then Seungcheol sprung the trap.

"If you don't come, I'm shortening lunch break from an hour and a half to just an hour."

All around the table, gasps were heard. Soonyoung slammed his fists down onto the table, and Mingyu thought he felt the table rattle. "What do you mean, 'shorten the lunch break'? Do you know how much I need that?"

Seungcheol raised his hands in a pacifying gesture. "Listen, if you come on this trip, not only will you still have an hour-and-a-half lunch break, you'll get over three hours of uninterrupted eating time, if that's what you wish to do."

Soonyoung sat down slowly. A good deal of the others sat back, and Seokmin spun in his chair.

"I don't really care," Jihoon said. "I'd rather stay here." 

No one objected. Mingyu suspected that he wasn't the only one afraid of the shorter's wrath.

Apparently, Seungcheol wasn't. "If you don't come," he said, pointing a finger at Jihoon, "I'll bolt your monitor to your desk."

A general air of uneasiness clouded the table. On one hand, if Jihoon stayed, it was unlikely he would be able to threaten anyone with his monitor bolted down, but on the other, their lunch break would be shortened.

Jihoon frowned. "Fine, I'll go."

The uneasiness dissipated. It was generally understood that Jihoon could be intimidating without his monitor, anyways.

                           -

"Here I come!" Seokmin yelled as he jumped out of the van onto the sand. Seungcheol had rented a van in an attempt to further strengthen the bonding time, but it had been a tight fit, what with nine shirtless men all crowded in. 

Soon, everyone was out. Minghao and Jun were building sand castles, while Seokmin, Soonyoung, and Seungcheol splashed around in the water. Jeonghan, Seungkwan, and Jihoon were all laying down on towels in the hot summer sun. Mingyu decided to join the guys in the water.

After about an hour, Seungcheol announced, "Guys, get over here!"

Minghao reluctantly abandoned his sand castles and walked over with Jun. Jihoon got up and stalked over. The rest soon followed.

"I thought that, maybe since we're all here at the beach, we should play a game of volleyball!"

All except for Seokmin and Soonyoung groaned. The two hyperactive males just grinned and high-fived. 

"It's so on," Soonyoung said.

"On like Donkey Kong," replied Seokmin.

Seungcheol proceeded to arrange the men into three teams: on one team was Seungkwan, Jihoon, and Seokmin, on another, Soonyoung, Minghao, and Jun, and on the last was Mingyu, Seungcheol, and Jeonghan. 

"First up, we've got Soonyoung's team versus Jihoon's! Right, greet each other and play fairly, everyone," Seungcheol announced.

Seungkwan rolled his eyes. "Yes, dad."

Soonyoung and Seokmin fist-bumped and retreated to their respective teams.

Jun immediately started the game with an amazing serve that almost took Seokmin out. "Hey, watch the face!" Seokmin admonished. Jun rubbed the back of his sheepishly, but his next serve almost took out the other, and everyone could see the smile decorating his face.

In the end, Soonyoung's team completely decimated Jihoon's; Minghao spiking Soonyoung's sets and Jun serving up aces after aces.

In the middle of the championship game between the boss's team and Soonyoung's (Seungcheol's team was surprisingly good, what with Mingyu's height and everyone else's unwillingness to hit anything hard at Jeonghan, the office angel), a new group of people approached the crew.

"Hey, we saw you playin' volleyball, and wanted to know if we could maybe join, or play the winner or something!" a bright voice said.

Looking over, Mingyu saw the attractive stranger plus three other shirtless males. The one who was speaking was a grinning man standing at the front of the group. 

"Sure," Seuncheol smiled. "What's your guys' names?"

"I'm Vernon. This is Dino," he said, pointing at a shorter male who smiled and did a spin. "Jisoo, say hi."

"Hi," piped up another person, a brown-haired male with a catlike smile.

"And finally, the emo in the corner is Wonwoo."

Wonwoo protested, but it was weak, as though he was used to it.

'Wonwoo'. Mingyu finally had a name to the face, voice, and great body.

"Right, I'm Seungcheol, and these people are my underlings, Jihoon, Soonyoung, Jeonghan, Seungkwan, Minghao, Seokmin, Jun, and Mingyu. We're here on a break from office life."

Vernon nodded. "We'll wait 'til you guys are done, then."

"Cool, thanks," Seungcheol replied.

                           -

At last, it was time for the FINAL final faceoff between teams. As the game got underway, however, it became clear that Vernon and his bunch were much more skilled than Seungcheol's ragtag group of computer nerds. At one point, however, Mingyu made a good block and Vernon cussed. "Fuck!"

"Vernon! Mind your language!" Jisoo reprimanded. Seungkwan snickered into his hand. 

The score was 24-5, with Wonwoo and the rest leading. Mingyu jumped up to block the other's spike, but misjudged the timing and height and ended up getting a face full of volleyball.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Wonwoo asked sincerely. "Jeez, I'm really sorry." 

Mingyu laughed. "No big deal. But wow, that is one hard spike!"

Wonwoo's team won the game pretty easily. Once it was over, Seungcheol gathered the rest of the employees and herded them towards the van. But before Mingyu could get in, Wonwoo stopped him. 

"I still feel pretty bad about hitting you in the face today, and in the stomach the other day. So can I make it up to you by buying a drink or something?"

Mingyu smiled, showing his canines. "It's really no big deal, but thanks, I'd love to. When?"

"There's a great bar downtown, if you want to meet me there at around eight tomorrow."

"Sure, lemme give you my number just in case." Mingyu hunted for a pen and a piece of paper, but not finding one, opted to steal a pen out of a compartment in the van. "Hold out your arm," he instructed.

Wonwoo complied, and Mingyu capped the pen with a grin at the other. "Right, see you!"

"Mhm, see you then." Wonwoo said a quick good-bye before racing back to his friends, who clapped him on the back. As Mingyu drove off in the van, he could hear excited crows about something echoing from Wonwoo's strange friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu and Wonwoo casually meet up at the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes so i lost the happy in the middle of writing this so i apologize for how short and un-funnier than usual it is

Mingyu arrived at the bar Wonwoo had specified through text at eight exactly. Stepping through the doors, he was pleasantly surprised to find the other already at the bar, smiling and chatting with the bartender. Mingyu made his way over and sat down on a stool.

Wonwoo turned. "Hey, how's it going?"

Mingyu smiled. "Just fine, thanks. How're you?"

"Good. What do you want?" he asked, gesturing at the expansive selection.

Mingyu decided to take the lighter route and go for a fruit mojito, while Wonwoo got a beer. 

"You didn't have to wait, you know," Mingyu casually mentioned. 

"Nah, I figured that it's no big deal. Of course, I think it's Jisoo's fault; he's so annoyingly polite it rubs off sometimes."

Mingyu laughed. "Lucky, all my friends are assholes, except for one, but everyone worships him."

"The long-haired one? Everyone was bowing down to him on the beach, it seemed like."

"That's the one. Of course, Jeonghan brings us coffee and surprise take-out when we've completed a project, so he's pretty deserving of our worship."

"So what do you do?" Wonwoo asked, leaning in.

"Coding. As of right now, I'm unpaid, but once they start paying me..." Mingyu playfully licked his lips and rubbed his hands together. "And you?"

"I am successful. And by that, I mean that I have a well-paying job at a cube farm."

"I wouldn't have pegged you for the cube farm type," Mingyu said, surprised.

"I wouldn't have, either. I'm not super into it, but it's easy money." Wonwoo smirked, and Mingyu felt his heart rate increase. 'Be still, my heart!' he thought. 

"I'm curious, though. What would you have pegged me as?"

Mingyu thought for a moment. "Hmmm, let's see...in high school, you were that one dickbag that never showed up to class but was still number one...I'm thinking asshole who doesn't talk too much, but still really popular. Playboy tendencies, maybe?"

"I'm wounded," Wonwoo replied. "Is that how little you think of me? For your information, I almost failed maths, and despite not talking too much, I was captain of the volleyball team AND popular. I'd give you a maybe on the playboy thing, though."

Mingyu wanted to reply that he actually thought a lot of Wonwoo, but was not stupid enough to say so. Instead, he went for, "You're making a real strong case for yourself here."

"Oh, I know. Sometimes I think that I should've been a lawyer."

Mingyu wrinkled his nose. "Ew, no. I could never do that. Argue and write up legal documents for a living? Augh."

"Says the guy who works in coding," Wonwoo pointed out.

"Shots received. But at least with coding, you end up with a product everyone can use or benefit from."

Changing the subject, Wonwoo mentioned, "So since you guessed what I was like way back when, I think it's only fair to say what I think you might have been like."

"Shoot. I wanna know."

"Okay, so you were that really busy nerd sans a social life. Strong family influence? A few really close friends?"

Mingyu was taken aback. "Jeez. That just about sums high school me up."

Wonwoo grinned. "I'm also pretty perceptive."

Mingyu just laughed and ordered another drink. And at the end of the night, with a pleasant buzz coursing through his body, when Wonwoo ruffled the younger's hair with a playful grin and said that they should meet up again sometime, Mingyu agreed because he discovered that he didn't just like Wonwoo's face, voice, and body, but his personality too.

'I'm so fucked.'

                          -

It didn't surprise Mingyu that the Seventeen branch of Pledis Co. was throwing another party at Soonyoung's house. What did surprise him, however, was the allowance to bring a friend if they wanted to. The parties were normally branch only, but Mingyu wasn't complaining. He had been texting Wonwoo all week since they had met up at the bar, and sent the other a short text once he heard friends were invited.

'hey, one of my coworkers is hosting a party this friday. wanna come?'

Almost immediately, he received a reply. Mingyu smiled down at his smartphone screen.

'sure, i'll be there.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu and Wonwoo go to Soonyoung's party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahaha i think it's longer this time?
> 
> thanks to all you lovelies who read this!
> 
> screams i'm getting such a positive response, i never thought i would! means tons!~

Wonwoo stepped through the door of a spacious, though not overly ostentatious house. He wore black skinny jeans with a white Breakfast Club t-shirt. Wonwoo supposed it was part of what contributed to Vernon's 'emo' assessment of him, but he didn't care, and Vernon didn't mean it badly.

He surveyed the interior, appreciating the smooth marble floors and modern paintings hung on the walls, when something crashed into him.

More accurately, someone. Wonwoo wasn't quite sure which 'underling' this was, so he was very glad when the other introduced himself first.

"I'm Seokmin! I know we met at the beach, but what's your name again? I kind of forgot," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Wonwoo laughed. "That's fine. I'm Wonwoo," he said, completely relieved that he could continue to pretend that he hadn't forgotten the other's name. The only one he really remembered was Mingyu, and that was because he had accidentally hit the younger with a volleyball. Twice.

"Mingyu, your boyfriend is here!" Seokmin yelled, turning back towards the living room. 

"Whatever, douchebag!" a familiar voice yelled back, and Wonwoo saw Mingyu approaching in soccer pants and a sleeveless basketball-style jersey.

"Sorry about him," Mingyu shot a  look over his shoulder, one part 'be quiet' and four parts 'i hate you so fucking much'. Seokmin just smilled and waved, skipping off to the living room.

"Well, you did warn me that your friends are all assholes. So fair warning, I guess," Wonwoo smiled at the other to show that he wasn't mad.

Mingyu grinned, showing his canines. "Oh, they get worse."

                          -

Mingyu was relieved that Wonwoo didn't take Seokmin's little outburst too badly. He had tried to remain calm, but the truth was that he was kind of terrified that Wonwoo would be kind of mad, or even disgusted.

Before the party, Soonyoung, Seokmin, and Seungkwan and come up to him and given their blessing for his and Wonwoo's marriage. "I know you'll make a fine wife," Seungkwan had said, clasping his hands together earnestly.

Mingyu had frowned. "Why am I the wife?" he had asked.

Soonyoung smirked. "Well, duh, you didn't make the first move!"

"So you're insinuating that girls can't make the first move?" Mingyu had glared, leaning down with his hands on his hips. "I will have you know that I have a sister who is perfectly capable of making the first move."

"Buuut, you weren't," Seokmin countered, unaffected by the taller's looming presence.

"Wait, Mingyu's getting married?" Minghao had asked, walking into their conversation by accident. 

                           -  

He led Wonwoo into the kitchen first, where he padded straight to the fridge. "What would you like?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. "We've got beer, if you like."

"That sounds good," Wonwoo replied, and Mingyu tossed him a beer, which was barely caught.

"Nice catch," Mingyu smirked at the other as he mixed a cocktail for himself. 

"Oh, whatever, Mr. Little League. What is it with you and fruity drinks, anyways?"

Mingyu shuddered. "I'm not able to hold my alcohol very well. Guess you could say I'm a bit of a lightweight."

Wonwoo snorted. "With that height? You've gotta be over at least 170."

Mingyu looked up, stirring his drink. "155, actually. It's all puppy fat," he said, playfully poking his stomach. 

Wonwoo shook his head disbelievingly. "Whatever, you big puppy."

They headed out into the living room, where everyone was playing video games and chatting. 

"Oh, hey, you emo," Vernon said, turning his head over his shoulder from where he sat on the ground with popcorn in his mouth. "Was wonderin' when you'd show your face." 

"Vernon?" Wonwoo asked in surprise.

"The one and only. Jisoo and Dino are here too; now shut your piehole and stop distracting me from Super Smash Brothers."

Wonwoo feigned a stab to his heart, and Soonyoung laughed. 

Soon, the party had gone from absolute chaos to slightly more organized chaos. The members had formed teams to play Super Smash Brothers, and Mingyu was squared off as Pikachu to Wonwoo's Luigi.

"Just do it!" yelled Vernon, who was on Mingyu's team. "Don't let your dreams just be dreams!"

In reply, Pikachu released a shrill cry and shocked Luigi with its thunderbolt. Mingyu laughed happily while Wonwoo groaned.

"Oh, come on. It's not my fault that you got the cutest character!"

Mingyu cackled. "I can't help it. I win!"

"Guys, guys! Let's play Truth or Dare!" Jeonghan suggested excitedly.

Internally, everyone groaned, but no one wanted to risk their angel's disapproval. 

No one but Jihoon, who asked, "What are we, twelve?"

All eyes turned to Jihoon. The tension could have been cut with kiddie scissors.

"I approve," he finished. It appeared Jihoon was extremely drunk already.

Inwardly, Mingyu groaned. In stories, awkward situations always occured during Truth or  
Dare. And Wonwoo was right there!

"Plain old Truth or Dare's no  
fun," complained Seokmin. Mingyu thanked the stars above.

"Yeah!" added Soonyoung. "Let's make it so that every time you don't go through with a bet or won't answer a question, you gotta drink two shots!"

Mingyu cursed again.

It was too late. All present at the party agreed. Soon enough, they were all in a circle, Mingyu sitting criss-legged with Minghao on one side and Wonwoo on the other. An empty beer bottle was spun to decide the first unlucky player. Mingyu held his breath.

Luckily, it stopped at Minghao. "Kiss any person in this room," Sengkwan directed, having been deemed the official moderator of the game for his deviousness and entertainment value.

Minghao blushed and turned to  
his left, where Jun was sitting. He looked down for a moment, but Jun just smiled and brought the other's face amd kissed him lightly. Minghao put his arms around Jun's neck, and soon cat-calls were heard from the more rambunctious players.

They pulled away, Minghao blushing happily and Jun with a cheesy smile on his face. Seungkwan awww'd and smirked, and Mingyu got the feeling that the islander had been planning for that moment. Minghao's secret crush on Jun was only secret to the othe Chinese man, as it was obvious to the rest of the office. The two really were very close, and Jun adored Minghao just as much.

Rounds progressed late into the night, though none as dramatic as the first, with Mingyu answering a few mundane questions about his assumed virginity and supposed drug-dealing buisness. ("I can easily say no to the first one," he had answered, "but I make no promises on the second.") He, like everyone else, ended up taking more than a few shots as Seungkwan got more and more drunk and his questions and dares got stranger.

"Alright, last round," Seungcheol ordered. "It's getting late."

The group moaned collectively. Mingyu sighed with relief, as he was feeling really lightheaded and  not very coherent.

"Since it's the last round, no skipping. Whoever gets the question or dare has to commit," Seungkwan said.

He spun the bottle, and it landed right on Wonwoo.

"Wonwoo, truth or dare?"

"Dare," he replied immediately. 

"Hmm, I want you to....profess your undying love to Mingyu!"

Mingyu frowned, trying to process what was going on in his alcohol-addled brain. Before he could fully comprehend the situation, though, Wonwoo had already turned to him.

"Mingyu," he began overdramatically, "I love you with all of my heart. Bros will always come before hoes with you."

Vernon sniffed. "Dude, that was...beautiful!"

Mingyu grinned lazily. "Whatever, you hoe."

"The bittersweet sting of rejection from the bro you love most. Oh, how it bites!" Wonwoo replied.

"Love you too, ya hoe," Mingyu said, smiling.

The party ended, everyone too buzzed to even consider cleaning up. Mingyu stumbled outside, Wonwoo following him.

"Hey, you seem a bit...out of it. Want me to give you a ride?" Wonwoo asked.

"Aw, man, that would be great! Thanks, dude," Mingyu swayed as he spoke, a side effect of the alcohol. 

Mingyu's house wasn't far, but they spent the ride in silence aside from Mingyu giving brief directions. It was a comfortable silence.

Mingyu stepped out of Wonwoo's Honda into the crisp night air. "Thanks," he said.

"No prob," Wonwoo replied. "Bros before hoes."

Mingyu smiled one last time and entered the door. He pulled out his phone and sent one last text to the other.

'Later, hoe.'

Back in his car, Wonwoo looked down at his phone screen and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //coughs// how did that junhao get in there what
> 
> more chapters to come! :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu runs into a friend at the grocery store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda short again! sorry!
> 
> also i know that my writing is pretty slow-paced but plz bear with me ahaha ;w;

Mingyu was at the grocery store, looking for some ramen. He found the specific flavor he wanted and put it in his cart.

While he was an unpaid intern, Seungcheol did provide him with a little money for food and such. It's not like he required gargantuan amounts of food to function, and lunch, snacks, and coffee were all available at the office.

He turned the aisle corner and bumped into Vernon.

"Oh, hey, man," Vernon grinned. "Wonwoo 'n I were just talking about you! Well, more like Wonwoo was talking, but still," a small frown decorated his face for a moment while he pondered the situation, but quickly disappeared to be replaced by his usual easygoing smile. 

"Anyway, what're you here for?" he asked, clearly happy to see someone he knew. "I need to get some popcorn for tonight's movie night!"

"Ah, not much. I'm on the Unpaid Intern Diet, so meals outside of work are generally ramen," Mingyu didn't elaborate too much, given that he was still in shock over the idea that Wonwoo was talking to his friends about him, though he did wonder if they were good things or not.

Vernon nodded his head sympathetically. "College was such a pain. I did the same a lot." He suddenly snapped his fingers, remembering something. "In addition to generally just rambling on about how cool you are, Wonwoo wanted to invite you to our movie night! It's basically just a big sleepover. He was gonna text you, but this'll be way more convenient. So, wanna come?"

Mingyu thought for a moment. In his experience, things like movie nights were usually for the main squad, so he didn't know if Vernon, Dino, and Jisoo would be okay with him joining. So, he did the least awkward thing possible, and tried to phrase the question in a way that would ensure that Vernon would understand but still not be offended.

"I'd love to come, if you all are cool with it," he casually mentioned.

The other waved his hand nonchalantly. "Dude, it's totally cool. It'll be fun to have someone else around for once." Leaning in with a conspiratorial whisper, he took a peek at his surroundings to make sure no one was listening before continuing. "Dino's really into Michael Jackson, like, REALLY obsessed, like there's a legit shrine in his room, Jisoo, love him though I do, is a freaking overpolite moron who couldn't utter a cuss word to save his life, and Wonwoo," he said, pausing for dramatic effect, "is extremely emo."

Mingyu laughed. "Your gossip is equal to that of Seungkwan's. Diva Boo would be proud."

Vernon winked. "You heard none of that from me, got it? It was aallll Wonwoo."

"Sure, sure."

"Good to know you have my back, man. See ya later; I'll give you the address in a minute!" Vernon exited the small store with his freshly procured popcorn, waving at Mingyu without looking back. The taller's phone chimed within the minute as promised with the address, though upon examining the ID, he found that the text was from Wonwoo.

'vernope texted me and told me you'd be here. eight thirty, number 1584 hyacinth drive. dont be late, loser.'

'whatever you say, hoe' was Mingyu's loving reply.  
    
                           -

Mingyu stood in front of the door in a snapback, sleeveless t-shirt, and another pair of comfortable sweats that hung low on his hips. He held a few big bags of candy. Taking a few moments to steel himself, he rung the doorbell.

After a few moments, Wonwoo opened the door in jeans and a sweater. He gave Migyu a once-over before his eyes settled approvingly on the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Mingyu had never felt so jealous of candy until then. 

"Well, seeing as you have brought tribute, I guess you can come in, you big puppy."

Mingyu pouted childishly, stepping in. "Why am I the puppy?"

Wonwoo gestured to, well, all of the younger. "Dude," he said incredulously. "How could you NOT be a puppy, for Christ's sake? You have, and I quote, 'puppy fat', your limbs are long as hell, and, I mean, COME ON! You just fucking pouted!" As he listed the items, he ticked them off on his fingers.

Mingyu paused, unsure of what to say.

"Don't worry, though, it's a pretty good look on you." 

Before Mingyu could reply or even call out a simple 'thank you', Wonwoo had already turned away. "Right, guys, what do you wanna watch first?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Let's watch Air Bud!" Dino called out exitedly. Mingyu snorted. 'Jihoon would approve,' he thought. 

"I think we should watch High School Musical!" mentioned Jisoo. Everyone groaned, but Jisoo just looked confused. 

"I'm all for, like, Godzilla, or King Kong!" Vernon threw his opinion in.

"Mingyu, what do you want to watch?" Wonwoo asked, genuinely curious.

"Uhm, anything's fine, really. But, uh, maybe Jaws?"

Wonwoo nodded. Vernon crowed. Jisoo smiled, and Dino gave a thumbs-up. "Sounds good!"

                           -

They curled up on the couch: Vernon and Jisoo on one side, Wonwoo and Mingyu on the other. Dino had been forced to the floor. Mingyu felt kinda sorry for the kid, but not really, because he got to sit next to Wonwoo. He knew that it was silly, that he was acting like some stupid high school kid, but Wonwoo made him feel all warm and fuzzy and happy inside.

It haf been a kind of late-nights-early-mornings week for Mingyu, so within half an hour of the movie's start, he had fallen asleep, head resting on Wonwoo's shoulder.

At the end of the movie, Wonwoo stretched to feel a strange weight on his shoulder. He looked down and saw Mingyu's peaceful sleeping face. The younger really did look like a puppy. Unwilling to disturb the precious sleep of the tall man, he decided to lay his head on the other and sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i rlly,, love vernon. he's just too chill


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bros will be bros.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> little bit more ship? idk mun dont kill me scream im sorry ive been busy so this might be a bit short again and im still the slowest paced writer on planet earth so yeah

Mingyu woke up with a stiff neck and a bad feeling.

Sleepily straining his neck to look around and find a clock, he saw that the time was 7:46 in the morning.

"Oh, shit!" he cried, jumping off of the sofa and a very confused Wonwoo, who made drowsy grabby hands at the younger man, missing the other's warmth. "I'm gonna be late for work!"

"Unhhh...what time is it?" Wonwoo asked, rubbing his eyes with his fists.

"It's seven forty-five!" Mingyu replied, hastily running into a corner to change.

Wonwoo laughed. "Dude, it's all cool."

Mingyu shot a glare at the older. "Maybe for a hoe like you, yeah."

"True, true. I'm sure you look great under there," Wonwoo winked, making Mingyu blush and shoot the older another glare. He grumpily threw on his clothes, but he could feel Wonwoo's eyes on him.

"What?" he finally asked, turning around with his hands on the hips of yet another pair of sweats. The office was pretty lax about dress, as Mingyu found out when he showed up for work on his first day in dress pants and a dress shirt to find the rest of them in t-shirts, sweaters, and jeans.

"Your insecurity amazes me. Your accuracy does too, however; I see what you were talking about when you said 'puppy fat'."

Mingyu walked over and pinched the other as hard as he could.

"Ow!" Wonwoo yelped. "Fine, fine. Would it make it better if I drove you there?"

Mingyu looked wide-eyed at the other. "You don't have to do that! I've already woken you up and pinched you; I couldn't ask you to drive me as well!"

Wonwoo smirked. "Don't worry so much. I've got to go to work too, I'll just drop you off."

Mingyu became visibly more relaxed. "Oh, thank you! You're a saint, Wonwoo, a goddamn saint!"

"Uh, I don't think you can be a saint AND goddamned at the same time, but you know what? I'm willing to overlook that."

After hurriedly brushing their teeth and breakfasting on leftover candy from the night before, the two ran out to the car. Mingyu tugged on the car door, but it was locked. "Beep, beep!" he yelled impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm working on it! Hold your puppies," Wonwoo grumbled, fumbling with his keyring. He found the proper key, and they scrambled to get in.

As they headed out onto the road, Wonwoo asked Mingyu, "So what kind of music do you want to listen to?"

"Rap!" Mingyu replied enthusiastically.

"Yes, finally! Vernon likes rap, too, but Jisoo likes pop and Dino...well, you already know about Dino..."

"Out of all my other friends, only Seungcheol likes rap. It's wierd, because he feels and acts like a middle-aged dad, but he makes mixtapes and calls himself S. Coups, and he's actually pretty decent. So no, I don't really talk about it with anyone else."

Wonwoo shrugged. "Fair enough," he said. "Though you'll have to show me Seungcheol's mixtapes sometime." With that, he turned the audio system on and connected it to his phone. Soon, the sounds of G-Dragon and T.O.P's 'Zutter' could be heard, along with a couple of carefree voices rapping along with it.

                          -

Mingyu arrived at the office just in time, yelling "Your god is here!"

Seungcheol walked into the main room, wanting to see what all the commotion was about. "Dude, you're not even close to being a god. I'M the god here, and since the rest of them are underlings, you're like a DOUBLE underling, seeing as you're still an intern and all."

Mingyu huffed. "Whatever, it's only for a few more months."

"Watch it, kid. I hold the power."

                           -

When Mingyu got off work that day, he decided to invite Wonwoo over. He figured that he could invite Vernon, Jisoo, and Dino over at a later date, but it had been a long day filled with coding and he needed a hot guy to cheer him up. Which wasn't to take anything away from the other's wonderful (if a bit heartbreakingly flirtatious) personality, but he just wanted to eat food and play video games. 

'oi. hoe. wanna come over? i have a copy of the new assassin's creed' he texted.

A few moments later, his phone chimed. 

'omg u loser. where do u live? im so gonna be there' Wonwoo's text read.

                          -

Mingyu answered the door within five minutes of sending a text to the older regarding his address. Without waiting for an invitation, Wonwoo barged right in. "Where's the game?"

Mingyu pointed wordlessly in reply.

Soon they were deep in gameplay, completely immersed in the virtual world. So immersed, Wonwoo didn't realize he had knocked over Mingyu's wine until it spilled all over his stonewashed jeans. "Damn!" he yelled. "I died."

"Dude, there's fucking WINE on your jeans," Mingyu mentioned, looking at the other strangely.

"Oh. Shit. Um, do you have anything I could borrow?" he asked, smiling sweetly.

Mingyu rolled his eyes, unable to resist. "Whatever, I think some of my smaller stuff might fit." He led the older to his closet. "Take your pick," he said.

Wonwoo wrinkled his nose. "Are ALL of your pants sweats?"

Mingyu folded his arms defensively. "Hey, they're comfy! And unless you'd rather wear my itchy special-occasion dress pants, or the dress I had to wear on a dare once, I suggest you find a pair that fit."

But Wonwoo wasn't listening. "You wore a DRESS on a dare? Dude, you gotta send me pics," he said, laughing.

Mingyu regretted his ill-chosen words. "No pictures, just pick some pants already!"

"Fine, I'll ask Seungkwan for them then." Wonwoo replied. Mingyu sighed and gestured again to his closet.

Picking out a pair, Wonwoo mentioned, "Bro, we gotta get you more variety in your closet. Don't get me wrong, you look great in your sweats, but dress makes the man, and we are going to dress you like a MAN, not some fuckboy."

Mingyu tilted his head to one side, confused. "What?"

"You. Me. Tomorrow. Mall."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu visits the mall with Wonwoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow im sorry this is kinda short and as always hella crappy

As promised, Wonwoo arrived outside Mingyu's workplace right after he got done with work. "Get in, loser. We're going shopping," he had said. Mingyu had just raised an eyebrow.

He stretched his sweatpants-clothed legs in the limited space of the other's Honda Accord. "So which stores will we be visiting?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure yet. I'd normally shop at a few specialty stores, but your style is more...H&M, I'm thinking. But first, do you wanna get lunch?"

Mingyu bounced eagerly up and down in his seat. "Yeah, that sounds good!"

Wonwoo chuckled. "Yeah, it's on me, since I'm dragging you along on this trip."

Mingyu punched the air while Wonwoo laughed, a full-on laugh this time.

                          -

They dined on McDonalds hamburgers from the food court at the mall. "Very classy," Mingyu said, but still tore eagerly tore into his burger.

"Shut up," Wonwoo replied through a mouthful of hamburger. "Hamburgers are life."

Their lunch was filled with aimless banter and playful jabs. Mingyu wished it could be a real date, that he could call Wonwoo his boyfriend instead of just his friend, but settled for this because he felt it was way too early to try and make a move (not to mention that he was extremely terrified of destroying the pre-existing friendship he had worked so hard to build).

Mingyu finished his burger and delicately ate at his fries, ruminating on all this. He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice that Wonwoo had stolen his fries. 

"Hey!" he cried, pouting. "No fair."

Wonwoo sighed. "No, Mingyu, what's not fair is your fucking pout. I'm suddenly struck not only with the urge to return your fries, but to also pinch your cheeks amd offer you a treat."

Mingyu's ears perked up. "Treat?"

"Oh, come on!" Wonwoo groaned, getting up and quickly purchasing a sundae for them to share. "You have got to stop that." 

Mingyu grinned. "No can do, that routine just got me ice cream."

In reply, Wonwoo flicked the other in the forehead, causing him to stare up and make himself cross-eyed.

"Watch it, if you stay that way for too long, the wind might freeze your face like that."

Mingyu smiled nostalgically. "My mom says that a lot." 

Wonwoo studied Mingyu's face for a moment, then carefully cleaned up their table and discarded their trash. "Come on. Now that we've had lunch, it's time to go shopping."

                          -

Wonwoo led Mingyu to a large store with departments on two floors. There, he selected a pair of corduroys and a sweater and directed Mingyu to the changing rooms.

Mingyu emerged, performing a quick spin. Wonwoo nodded, inspecting the way the clothes fit. "This'll do," he said, folding them over his arm.

The next outfit he put together was a pair of bleached jeans coupled with a letter jacket, to be worn with a t-shirt underneath. 

In this way, the afternoon continued, until Mingyu had amassed a considerable amount of clothes. Wonwoo was so engrossed in shopping, he didn't realize how tired Mingyu was getting. Finally, the younger decided to tell the other.

"Hey, Wonwoo?" he asked, gasping. "I'm really tired, so do you think we could just go eat dinner instead? I'll pay; heck, I'll even wear one of my new outfits," he pleaded.

Wonwoo melted. "Sure, sounds good. Let's go."

                           -

Mingyu ended up wearing the curduroys and sweater to a small diner off of the main abenue of town. He stabbed at his (reduced fat) chicken-fried steak, not feeling very hungry.

Wonwoo, meanwhile, was making sinful noises in his deep voice as he ate a huge hamburger. He looked up. "What's bothering you?"

Mingyu shrigged miserably. "I don't know. I'm just getting a bad feeling."

"Aww, I'll protect you!" Wonwoo smirked.

Mingyu returned the smile, but only partially. "Thanks."

"Right, wanna come play volleyball the day after tomorrow? If you want to, you can bring a few friends. It'll be interesting to fight new blood," Wonwoo mentioned.

"Sure," Mingyu replied, mood improving a little. "Thanks again."

"No prob."

                          -

Mingyu felt his phone ring in his pocket. He quickly slipped it out to peek at the caller ID, but saw it was his sister. She sometimes called to simply catch up, which was a given seeing as they lived multiple states apart. Mingyu dismissed the call and returned to his conversation, whispering a quick 'sorry' even though his sister wouldn't hear it.

Within a few moments, however, she called again. Mingyu frowned and stood up. "I'll be back," he addressed Wonwoo, who gave a quick wave.

Stepping out in front of the diner, Mingyu waited silently for his sister to provide an explanation.

She took several deep breaths over the phone, composing herself. Had she been...crying?

"Mingyu, Mom is...Mom's dying."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just wanted to clarify just in case that i have nothing against mingyu's irl mum (as if i could have anything against anyone who birthed as fine a human being as mingyu)
> 
> wow u know i never meant for this to go dramatic but here we are


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu and Wonwoo go to the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> u know i feel like the end of the last chapter was really shitty but oh well
> 
> this chapter isn't very funny but thanks for sticking with me!

Wonwoo began to worry about his tall friend, as he hadn't come back in a while. He went outside. Not finding the other in front, he went to an alley beside the restaurant and found Mingyu leaning back against the red brick. He sat by the other, who had a slightly glassy look in his eye. "Mingyu?" he asked gently.

Mingyu looked up and saw Wonwoo leaning towards him, a worried look on his face. "Sorry," he hiccuped, wiping his eyes. He stood up to go in.

Wonwoo pushed him back down carefully and sat beside him. "Hey, no, tell me what's wrong." He waited patiently.

"It's my mom; she's, she's been in a car crash and got hurt really badly and they're going to try and operate on her but there's only a very low chance it'll succeed." Mingyu said this all in one breath and then put his face in his hands.

Wonwoo patted his back gently. "Is the hospital near here?"

Mingyu peeked at the other through his hands. "Yeah, but only by car."

"Come on, you big lug." Wonwoo stood up and dragged the other to his feet. Mingyu rubbed his eyes on his sleeves. "Thanks."

                           -

For the first few minutes, the car was filled with the sound of silence. Then, Mingyu spoke up. 

"We were really close," he started. "I told her everything. She was the first person I told when I realized I was gay. It's kind of strange that I had such an open, easygoing relationship with my mom, but I did.

"She was always there for me. She supported me when I wanted to go into programming rather than medicine. She supported me when I quit wrestling. So it just really sucks that I'm not there for her now."

Wonwoo pressed his foot down a little harder on the gas pedal. "She sounds great. I'd love to meet her. What's she like?"

Mingyu thought for a moment. "She's warm and welcoming, and I blame her for my puppy fat because she makes the best cookies ever. Sometimes she'll send me a box, and I'll eat them in a couple of hours. If I share with the office, it's a matter of minutes." Mingyu smiled, thinking fondly of memories of his mother. "She's really open-minded and accepting, and we're really similar. She'd love you, you know. You're really focused and she's always admired that in people."

Wonwoo smiled; he hated the other's tears. 

They arrived at the hospital. Exiting the car, Mingyu took a deep breath and squinched his eyes shut. He felt a warm pressure on his chest and looked down.

"It'll be okay," Wonwoo said, his arms wrapped around the younger's waist. "No matter what."

Mingyu didn't hesitate any further and soon, his arms encirled the other's shoulders. He nuzzled his face into Wonwoo's warm neck. Mingyu felt certain that his tears were seeping into the older's shirt, that he was destroying it and tried to pull away, but Wonwoo had none of that and pulled him right back in. "Thanks so much," Mingyu sniffed, then stood up straight. They entered the hospital together.

Inside, Mingyu's sister was waiting for them. When she saw Mingyu she stood up. They shared a quick hug. Her eyes were red, as she had been crying for a while. Mingyu wiped a finger under them to dry a stray tear and gave her a sad smile. Turning to Wonwoo, he introduced the two. "Wonwoo, this is my sister. Sis, this is my friend, Wonwoo."

She giggled and leaned up to whisper something in Mingyu's ear. He blushed and pinched her.

Her face turning serious again, she said, "Thanks for bringing my idiot of a brother here. You don't have to stay if you don't want to, because it'll be pretty late by the time we know the results, but if you want to stay, you're more than welcome."

Wonwoo nodded and sat down beside Mingyu, rubbing his back and whispering reassurances every now and then. Mingyu leaned over and rested his head on the other's shoulder, too tired to think about his actions.  
     
                           -

They passed the time by playing games on Mingyu's phone, trying to focus on something else. At one point, Wonwoo cussed so loudly at Geometry Dash that the nurse came in and shushed them with a glare. That didn't stop them, however, from marathoning lame Netflix horror and romance movies. When Mingyu's battery ran out, he pulled a spare charger out of his pocket and plugged it in, saying that a spare charger was 'more necessary than a wallet.'

At one in the morning, a very weary surgeon entered the reception area to find three bleary-eyed twenty-somethings blinking off sleep to continue 'The Human Centipede'. He cleared his throat, and the three looked up.

"Are you with Mrs. Kim?" he asked.

They nodded, tersely waiting for the results. 

He smiled tiredly. "She'll be fine."

Mingyu and his sister jumped up and hugged, sleep becoming unthinkable. Turning to the surgeon, Mingyu thanked the man profusely. 

Wonwoo looked on at the scene, a smile on his face. Mingyu faced him, and said, "Don't think I've forgotten about you, mister," before crushing him in what was sure to be the biggest hug the older had ever been in.

                          

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoo that's over huzzah
> 
> now if only this blasted cold would go away
> 
> to be a nerd and quote zutter, "I'm feeling kinda sick."
> 
> thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu gets an unforeseen haircut and discusses his feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoo ok i'm sorry just kinda in love with the grey-blue mingyu mansae-era hair

The next morning, Mingyu and Mingyu's sister visited their mom, Wonwoo hanging back a bit but coming nevertheless.

She welcomed the siblings with open arms, laying weakly in her hospital bed. Mingyu's sister replaced the wilting flowers on her windowsill with fresh ones. 

Mingyu clasped her hand in his worriedly. "How did it happen?"

Mrs. Kim chortled. "Some idiot decided that it was a good idea to drive drunk in the middle of the night. I was driving back from a run to the grocery store; he turned a corner on the wrong side of the street and crashed into me. Of course, he's dead now," she mentioned, a sad tone entering her voice. "Brain damage."

Looking up and noticing Wonwoo, she asked, "Who's this?"

Wonwoo stepped forward from just inside the door, where he had been standing. "I'm Wonwoo, Mingyu's friend. I've heard all about you," he said, smiling.

Mrs. Kim nodded. 'Right. Thanks for sticking with him, I know he's a huge loser." As she said this, she slyly flicked Mingyu's side. He yelped. She just smiled innocently at Wonwoo.

                           -

"You owe me big time," Wonwoo said as he and Mingyu exited the hospital. "That was majorly stressful."

Mingyu ran a hand through his unruly brown hair. "Think how bad it was for me! But yeah, I do owe you a few. Whatcha want?"

Wonwoo smirked thoughtfully, staring at his action. Mingyu followed his eyes to the upper edges of his vision. "Whaaa...oh," he realized. 

"Oh, yeah. I get to do your hair."   
    
                           -

Mingyu was dragged an overeager Wonwoo's house. The older rummaged through a cupboard filled with different shades of brightly colored hair dyes. "Shhh," he said, putting a finger to his lips. "Don't let Dino know that I've been snooping in his dye cabinet." He found the shade he was looking for and washed out Mingyu's hair. As tired as Mingyu was, he couldn't help but fall asleep as soon as Wonwoo's hands ran through his wet hair, preparing it for the dye.

He woke up to the gentle buzz of a razor. Wonwoo cursed. "Sorry," he apologized. "Didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's no problem, really," Mingyu replied, dazed. His hair was a dramatic blue-grey and parted to one side. 

"I'm gonna give you a side cut, okay? Just on the right."

Mingyu nodded in reply, then leaned back. He felt a gentle pressure on his scalp and tried not to flinch.

After a few mintues, Wonwoo tapped him on the shoulder. "Right, I'm done."

Mingyu ran his hand over the short, closely shaved side of his head. It felt fuzzy, like a doberman's fur. He broke into a grin. "Dude, how did you even learn to do this?"

Wonwoo smiled. "Took a few classes back in college when I still had time and no idea what I wanted to be. Pays off when you've got idiot friends who want their hair dyed every few months and are too lazy to read the box." He yawned.

"Oh man, I've kept you up long enough," Mingyu said guiltily. "I'll get going and leave you to your sleep."

"Byyyyee," waved Wonwoo wearily, a dopey smile on his face. "Like your hair, it's really nice on you."

Mingyu smiled and waved good-bye back. He made his way to the door and closed it behind him. Pulling out his phone, he opened the GPS app and started walking back home.

                          -

At work, something bugged at the corner of Mingyu's consciousness. He headed off to Minghao's office. Though quiet, the Chinese man was pretty knowledgeable.

Not quite knowing what to say, he sat for a minute, thinking. Minghao didn't pressure the tall male into saying anything; he knew the importance of patience with finding what to say.

"Well, you remember those guys at the beach?" he started. "The ones who challenged us to volleyball and beat us really badly?" 

Minghao nodded, wincing.

"Well, I actually suggested that whole trip because of one of them. You know how a couple of days before I had gotten a day off? Well, I used that day to visit the beach by myself, and I was lying down when I got hit in the stomach by a volleyball and when I looked up, Wonwoo was running up all sexy and shirtless to retrieve it and he opened his mouth and spoke and it was like that first drink of water on a hit summer day and just really, really hot, and now we're friends and he's just really great and I like him even more, and he's helped me a lot, and what do I do? I don't wanna be completely friendzoned; I have no clue if he even remotely likes guys, I mean he didn't react when I told him I like guys but thar doesn't mean he does too! It's just," here Mingyu's voice cracked a little. "How do I tell him?"

Minghao blinked, processing all this new information. "Wow," he said after a moment. "You're really whipped for this dude."

Mingyu nodded.

"Well, I honestly have no clue. It took me forever to confess to Jun, and I needed my friends' support for that. I guess all you can do is wait till you feel the time is right, and hope he likes you just as much as or even more than you like him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dear jisoos it took me like five min to think of how to describe wonwoo's voice and i still failed  
> don't you just love alliteration?
> 
> thanks for reading :'D


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu has a heart-to-heart with Wonwoo's friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoo broke 800 hits, thanks guys!

Mingyu walked out of the office feeling honestly much more confused and troubled than he had walking in. It wasn't that Minghao's advice hadn't helped. In fact, it had done just the opposite. Talking about his feelings made him realize just how enamored he was with Wonwoo, and his need to do something about it.

Just then, his phone rang with a call from Vernon. He slid strip on his phone and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, man! What's up?" a chipper voice from over the speaker asked.

"Not much, you?" Mingyu responded, wanting to know what was up.

"Right, Wonwoo caught a bug at work and we were scheduled to go to the beach and play volleyball tomorrow. We remember that you were pretty good, and since we need even numbers, do you wanna join us?" 

Mingyu stared at the street in front of him. Wonwoo's friends--well, he supposed his friends, now--were just too nice, Sure, he felt an underlying tension underneath the friendly invitation, but there was no harm in accepting, was there?

"Sure," he replied. "I'd love to. I'd better tell Wonwoo to get better too, I guess. See you tomorrow."

Vernon replied, and Mingyu could practically hear the grin over the phone. "Cool, see ya!"

Mingyu started on the long walk home. It was relatively tiring, but kept him in decent shape. He typed out a quick text to Wonwoo. 'hey, heard u were sick. hope u feel better soon. in the meantime im replacing u with ur friends'

Wonwoo replied almost immediately. Not surprising, given that he was probably laying in bed with nothing to do but watch Netflix and feel miserable. 'hmph, traitors. thanks, loser.'

Mingyu smiled. 'no problem, hoe.'

                          -

At the beach, Mingyu was greeted by the sight of Vernon eagerly waving both arms at him. "Over here!" he called out.

Spotting the other three, Mingyu ran over and planted his hands on his hips. "You ready to get beaten?"

Jisoo shared a look with the others. "Not just yet. We do wanna talk a bit first."

A little bit of the canine-rich grin disappeared from Mingyu's face. "'Kay, what's up?"

"It's about Wonwoo," Jisoo explained gently. "He had a pretty suckish experience with a girl way back when."

Mingyu leaned back. "Oh no," he said. "I mean, I know it's not really any of my buisness, but..."

Dino stopped him. "Dude, it totally is. We've seen how you look at him. And he may not realize it, but he's never warmed up to anyone this quickly before. You need to know."

Mingyu blushed a bit.

"We approve of you, of course. I mean, we approved of her, too, but we hope you won't make the same mistakes she did," Vernon continued.

Jisoo nodded. "She was..." he laughed, a tinge of bitterness in his voice. "A real player. Led him on for months. We had a good time, playing volleyball together, parties, sleepovers, the whole shebang, until one day she showed up at a party of ours with some guy hanging off of her arm and dumped the man she had spent months with, the man who spent months warming up to her and figured she was the closest thing to perfection he had ever seen."

Mingyu stared wide-eyed at them. "Geez. I had no clue."

Vernon smiled. "Yeah, don't worry. He doesn't talk about it. Like, at all. He's mostly moved on. A big part of that, we think, is thanks to you. So now that that's over, are you ready to get your ass kicked in volleyball?"

For a moment, Mingyu was silent, looking down. Then, he met their eyes. "Are you kidding? I could take all of you on and not break a sweat!" He began to run down to the makeshift courts at the edge of the beach. Looking back over his shoulder, he said, "Don't worry. I couldn't do that to Wonwoo if I tried."

                           -

In the end, Mingyu gained more than a few bruises and sore muscles, as well as a much closer connection with Wonwoo's friends, and (Mingyu felt) Wonwoo himself.

'oi hoe,' he typed out. 'i hung out with ur friends. they're really cool, unlike someone they know.'

He soon received a reply. 'u mean u? im cool af.'

Shaking his head, Mingyu continued the walk back to his house, which he hoped he could someday take with the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu decides to host a party at his place. But just because he's the host doesn't mean he holds all the power.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more chapters whoooeee! i smell an ending to this fic coming along soon, idk when tho but NOT NOW
> 
> i figure there'll also be an epilogue and one more chapter for junhao bc JUNHAO OK YES

Mingyu felt that the weekend would be a good opportunity to invite Wonwoo's friends over and repay them for all they had done for him. He picked up his phone and dialed Vernon's number. 

The other answered after the third ring. "'Sup, man?"

Mingyu winced. Vernon was such a wannabe swag-child. But he knew. He KNEW. Mingyu had walked into his room on accident and found it full of Rainbow Dash merch. 

Shaking that memory out of his head, he returned to his original train of thought. "Right, you wanna come over to my place Saturday? I'm inviting Jisoo, Dino, and the rest of my office."

"What, no Wonwoo? He too emo for the party? I agree," Vernon joked.

Mingyu scoffed. "The Wonwoo sort of goes without saying."

"Cool. I'll be there. Wait, when is it?" Vernon chirped.

"It starts at eight-thirty."

"Gotcha." Mingyu could practically see the other snapping his fingers in affirmation. "See ya, bye-bye for now."

Mingyu facepalmed. 'Bye-bye'?

                         -

The conversations went similarly for Jisoo and Dino, just less cringe-worthy. Not by much, but still.

He invited the rest of the office, and not surprisingly, they decided to come on the spot. He suspected that none of them had lives outside of the office. Of course, Mingyu couldn't really say anything, because all he had was Wonwoo and his gang.

                           -

Saturday night rolled around, and Mingyu had stocked the drinks bar with classier stuff that what he normally reserved for himself. He had chips and salsa, popcorn, and various other finger foods. The television he had saved up for ages for was set up with his copy of te new Assassin's Creed as well as Super Smash Brothers, the ultimate test of friendship.

As expected, Soonyoung and Seokmin showed up ten minutes early, wanting first pick at the snacks. Seungkwan showed up soon after, not wanting to miss out on any group action. Seungcheol showed up right on time, as did Jisoo, which allowed them to bond in the time it took for Mingyu to get to the door and open it.

Dino came in a Michael Jackson shirt, and Vernon whispered to Mingyu, "He's been wanting this shirt for ages; don't question it."

Mingyu nodded. "I figured."

Vernon smiled and entered. Music was already blasting from the stereo system. It wasn't anything really rave-style, the attendees just plugged in their phones or picked a song off of Mingyu's playlist.

Minghao followed, hanging on Jun's arm. The younger of the couple smiled shyly, while Jun grinned happily.

When Wonwoo arrived, Mingyu was already very worn out from having to race around his own house, trying to keep his so-called 'friends' from wrecking his living place. "Hey," he leaned on the doorframe, panting as he addressed the older.

"Hey, yourself. Quite the party, huh?" Wonwoo asked, bemused.

Mingyu chuckled nervously. "You...you could say that." He tried to not remember the time that he had to pry Soonyoung amd Seokmin apart to effectively disrupt their fight over who got the last chip for long enough to refill the bowl. Or the time Dino played 'Thriller' over the speakers and started dancing, prompting Soonyoung, Jun, and therefore Minghao to join him. Or the time when--

"Are you alright?" Wonwoo asked worriedly, disrupting the younger's slightly disturbing train of thought.

Mingyu nodded mutely.

Wonwoo ruffled the other's hair. "Right, well let's see what's going on now, shall we? I think Vernon might be drunk; he can't hold his alcohol for shit, and whenever he gets drunk, he rants about Rainbow Dash. It would be kinda funny if it wasn't so strange."

                           -

As it got later and later, the majority of the group wanted to play some lame party games. Of course, one of the first to be suggested was Spin the Bottle.

Minghao clung onto Jun's arm. Mingyu breathed heavily, nervous.

"So the rules are like this," Seungkwan, one hand on his hip, said. "We'll spin the bottle. Whoever it lands on first has to kiss whoever the bottle lands on next, unless they're already in a relationship," he added, more kindly.

Minghao and Jun released a breath. Mingyu began to sweat lightly.

Seungkwan spun the bottle. It didn't land on Mingyu, so he didn't pay much attention.

Until the fourth or so round, when Vernon spun and it landed on Mingyu.

Inside, Mingyu's thoughts had reached mach speed, proposing ways to get out of it. Hell, he wasn't even dating Wonwoo and he didn't want to kiss anyone else even if it might make the older jealous.

Fortunately, he didn't have to execute any of his ill-thought-out maneuvers. Vernon turned green all of a sudden and ran to the bathroom, where faint sounds of someone retching their guts out could soon be heard. Seungkwan laughed. "Guess he couldn't handle the though of kissing you, huh?"

Jeonghan pushed him over playfully and everyone, including Mingyu, snorted. Inwardly, he thanked the gods, as well as Vernon's weak stomach.

"You're gonna have to respin," said Jun to Mingyu. The latter reached out to the bottle in the center of their circle and spun it lazily with one hand, though he was extremely nervous inside.

It spun. And spun. And spun more and more slowly until it came to a stop on...

Who else? Wonwoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> upupupu have i left you all in despair?
> 
> u know i was just thinking what a great crack pair komaeda and j-hope would be
> 
> i'm not sorry
> 
> thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Last true chapter. Epilogue and Junhao chapter still to come!] Mingyu wants to work up the courage to talk to Wonwoo. He really does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aight so i know it's technically the last chapter but PLZ STICK AROUND AFTER THIS CHAPTER plz still an epilogue and extra junhao because i'M ON A JUNHAO QUEST, YEAH?
> 
> as always lame and un beta'd, p long this time tho

Looking up and trying to act normal, Mingyu felt all of his blood rush to his feet. Why couldn't he have just skipped out on this game? Out of all the people he could have landed to kiss, he landed Wonwoo. The man he had been crushing on since he had first seen the other, the man with the most beautiful voice, the most charming smile, the greatest personality.

It wasn't possible, Mingyu felt in that moment despite Wonwoo's friends' suspicions, for the other to like him. He simply wasn't deserving of someone that perfect, someone who had already had his heart broken. Hell, no one had any clue as to whether the other really even liked boys or not, not even his closest friends.

But then, Mingyu figured that it might well be his only chance to ever kiss the other, so he shrugged and tried to play it off casually. He walked over to the other side of the circle where Wonwoo sat and flicked him on the forehead with his middle finger to try and convey a sense of playfulness Mingyu didn't actually feel. Wonwoo chuckled in his low voice, and Mingyu felt his heart skip a beat.

'Here goes,' he thought, giving in to the catcalls and jeers surrounding them and leaning in with his eyes close, too afraid to see the other's reaction.

It was everything he'd ever imagined and more. It was soft and tender and sweet and caring for all of the half second it lasted. When he pulled away, Mingyu felt a trace of longing, but quickly pushed it away and replaced it with fake cheerfulness, grinning and laughing along with the rest of them. Only a few, the ones who had suspected Mingyu's crush on the older, had slightly sympathetic expressions on their faces, but he didn't care. He couldn't care.

The rest of the night, all the way up until eleven, Mingyu snuck quick glances at Wonwoo, who luckily didn't notice anything and didn't seem bothered at all by the kiss, much to Mingyu's simultaneous relief and regret.

The cuckoo clock his mother had given him as a gift chimed. Soonyoung looked up. "Awww, can we stay over for the night? I promise we'll be good!"

Jihoon punched him in the shoulder. "Don't try and promise anything for all of us, idiot." Turning his gaze to Mingyu, he added, "But can we stay, please?"

Mingyu blinked. He had never seen the other act so nicely.

Soon, however, the rest were chiming in, wanting a sleepover too. Mingyu shrugged and rolled his eyes, thinking that no more harm could possible be done as long as they all went home first and brought their pajamas and other such toiletries. He did not, in fact, own thirteen pairs of pajamas and twelve extra toothbrushes.

Everyone cheered. Mingyu sighed and rubbed his temples, while Jeonghan patted his back sympathetically and heading out to his own car, but not before whispering in Mingyu's ear, "I heard about Wonwoo."

Mingyu laughed mirthlessly in reply. 

                          -

There weren't too many rooms at Mingyu's place, so while the others were gone, he cleaned the living area a bit and set up a large number of blankets. There were always a multitude of those, because once Mingyu graduated from college, adults figured that birthday and Christmas gifts couldn't be any fun.

Wonwoo was the first to get back, surprisingly. He arrived with a black sports bag slung over his shoulder. Winking at the other, he laughed. "Just the necessities," he whispered.

Mingyu laughed with the other, forgetting his earlier dismay. It was easy to forget his troubles with Wonwoo, something he loved about the older.

Seokmin barreled through the door holding an armful of pillows, Soonyoung following close behind with both of their bags as well as a few more pillows.

Mingyu wrinkled his nose. "What're all of those pillows for?"

Seokmin grinned. "Just in case we have a pillow fight!" Seeing Mingyu's wide and worried expression, he quickly amended his earlier statement with, "But I was gonna sleep with them either way."

Wonwoo sniggered into his fist behind them.

                           -

Thankfully (though much to Seokmin and Soonyoung's chagrin), no pillow fight commenced. Mingyu had a hard time rounding everyone up for bed ('I have a pre-sleep routine I have to complete,' Seungkwan had complained when Mingyu had tried to drag him away from the mirror above the bathroom for long enough to brush his own teeth), but eventually, everyone settled down and fell asleep. To Mingyu's delight, Wonwoo slept just to his right.

                          -

Mingyu woke up at about one in the morning to a strange noise coming from his kitchen. Groggily rubbing his eyes, he slowly and achingly sat up, complaining quietly not unlike an old man about his back.

He made his way to the source of the noise to find Wonwoo in the kitchen, fetching a glass of water. The moment Wonwoo saw the younger, he froze and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry to wake you."

"No big deal," Mingyu said, still wiping away sleep from his eyes. "What's up?"

"I'm a bit of a light sleeper anyways, and I just couldn't sleep tonight. I've got a lot on my mind, I guess," the older explained.

Mingyu stared at the other for a minute. "Come on," he said finally.

Wonwoo didn't say anything, just followed him mutely to an outdoor balcony. It wasn't very large, just big enough for the two to step outside and have a comfortable amount of space, and Mingyu carefully closed the sliding glass door behind them.

The light was low; the stars almost absent. Above them, the moon glowed in its full splendor.

Staring straight ahead, Wonwoo mentioned, "I had my heart broken once, you know."

Mingyu looked over. It wasn't anything he hadn't already heard, but it was different, coming out of Wonwoo's mouth. He looked down again, fingering with the hem of his robe.

"She was beautiful. Captivating. I remember thinking when I first met her, 'She's perfect.'"

Mingyu's heart sank.

"But it soon became pretty apparent, to me, at least, that the heart wasn't really in the relationship. I loved her, but I realized she didn't care about me. At all.

"I still loved her, of course. But when she left with another man, it didn't come as as much of a surprise to me as it did to my friends. It still hurt, but less of a sting than a dull pain."

Mingyu cocked his head, still confused as to why Wonwoo was telling him all this.

Wonwoo laughed. "You really look like a puppy when you do that, you know." He ruffled the other's hair. "For a while, my friends set me up on blind dates I didn't want to go on. I guess the only positive effect those had on me was that they allowed me to forget about her, but I'm still really grateful to them.

"I guess what it's taken me a while to realize is that I've actually fallen out of love with that girl. The one who I thought I wanted by my side forever and always," he laughed disbelievingly, somewhat sarcastically. "And I think you've been a big part of that."

Mingyu held his breath. Wonwoo continued. "Lately, I've started to notice things about that I didn't before. You were always handsome, in your puppy way, but now you're more...attractive, I suppose? I notice your laugh and your silly canine grin and all these things that I thought friends weren't supposed to notice until I realized: I don't just want to be friends with you. I want to be more."

Lips wobbling, unable to hold himself back any longer, Mingyu closed the distance between them and wrapped the other in the tightest hug possible. "God, Wonwoo," he mumbled into the other's warm shoulder, effectively muffling his tears in the other's warm sweatshirt. "You don't know how much I've wanted to say those things, but was too terrified to. You have no idea for how long I've been wishing. You've no idea how glad I am that Vernon hit the ball extra hard that day and gave me the opportunity to meet you."

Wonwoo smiled gently. "Is that so? I'll have to thank him." Reaching a hand just a little bit up to trace the other's jaw, he wiped Mingyu's tears away and closed the distance between their lips once more. Except this time, it was for real, and lasted for a much longer time. They broke apart, all smiles and giggles, holding hands, and headed back inside, ready to face the world again--together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god this was a nightmare to write becuase not only do i not know how to plot a story (i just wrote this on my ipod, one chap a night), i suck at romance and kisses n shit  
> so thanks for stickin with this lil Set n hope you enjoyed!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu wakes up to find a note left in chocolate chip pancake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is this complete and utter shit  
> on the bright side JUNHAO NEXT
> 
> but gah major meanie is over, that's kinda...jeez what

A loud yawn escaped Mingyu's groggy lips as he stretched his arms above his head. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he made his tired way to the kitchen, his feet making muffled thuds as they padded along the carpeted ground. As he got closer and closer to the island, a sweet smell drifted into his nostrils and he sniffed. Out on one of the stovetops was a pan, and Mingyu peeked inside.

In the pan were chocolate chip pancake, Mingyu's favorite. Upon closer inspection, the pancakes had been carefully extruded from a piping bag to spell, "Morning! Happy Anniversary!"

Mingyu smiled at his boyfriend's sweet gesture. However, something caught his eye. Down in one corner of the pan was a cookie with words frosted on it. "P.S.-Check the closet."

Curiosity piqued, he went to his closet, where he found that all of his clothes, save for his favorite pair of sweatpants and a tank top, had disappeared. He turned the pants over in his hands, and a note fluttered out of one of its pockets. Mingyu picked it up from where it fell in the floor. 

"McDonalds! You know which, talk to that one employee."

Mingyu grinned, ready for the adventure. He quickly changed into the clothes and ran to his and Wonwoo's shared car.

He arrived at the mall in a matter of minutes, rushing down to the lower level where the food court was located. Running to the counter of the McDonalds there rather breathless (and ridiculous-looking), he slammed his palms down on the counter. 

The only employee manning the counter looked up with an unamused stare. 

Mingyu fanned his face, feeling rather out of shape. "Right," he panted. "Um..."

The employee sighed. He had brightly dyed hair and a killer jawline. "Yeah, your boyfriend said you'd come," he pronounced with a slight lisp. "He told me to give you this."

The employee handed Mingyu an open-faced hamburger with words messily scrawled on in mustard. Mingyu wrinkled his nose. He hated mustard, but then again, he hated hamburgers too. The mustard read, "Vernon's place!"

Mingyu shook his head, dashing off. Behind him, the McDonalds employee yelled, "Hey asshole, you still have to pay for that burger, you know!"

Mingyu jogged back, paid for the hamburger, and swore under his breath to murder Wonwoo the moment he found the other.

                          -

Vernon's place was deserted. Luckily, Mingyu knew how to get in through the back door with the faulty lock thanks to some crazy parties they'd had in the past.

Inside, the DVD of 'Godzilla' was lying on the couch, along with a half-eaten bag of Reese's Pieces. Mingyu smiled, reminded of his first sleepover with Wonwoo and his friends. He reached into the bag to pick out one of the candies and felt his fingers close around yet another note. 

"Soonyoung's place! Eat some candy!" Minyu laughed at Wonwoo's silly note.

He drove right over to Soonyoung's house. The other answered the door. "Oh, hey, Mingyu! Come on in!"

Mingyu stepped in, murmuring a word of thanks. "I'm on a scavenger hunt, apparently. Got any clues from Wonwoo for me?"

Soonyoung giggled. "No can do, silly. You've gotta do this on your own!"

Mingyu huffed and pouted, but wandered through the house anyways. Poking his head into random rooms, he mentioned casually to the other, "So it looks like everyone is in on this elaborate practical joke, huh?"

Soonyoung shrugged. "Couldn't say for sure."

Mingyu sighed, peering into the kitchen. A lone beer bottle lay on the counter, a note visible within its translucent confines. Turning it upside down, he stuck his tongue out slightly as he concentrated on fishing the note out from the bottle's long, skinny neck.

Finally retrieving the slip of paper with the aid of a pair of tweezers, Mingyu unfolded the note and read, "Spin the Bottle! Your office this time!"

Mingyu shook his head, rushing back to the car with a quick wave at Soonyoung. 

                          -

The office was completely deserted. However, the walls were covered in toilet-paper banners, with words hastily written in red Sharpie Magnum. "Happy Anniversary," they declared.

Poking his head into the cubicles, Mingyu found no one until he came to Jihoon's area. He cautiously approached the other as one might creep closer to a wild tiger in the jungle. "Um, Jihoon?"

The other didn't look up, just pointed his thumb behind him in the direction of the break room. "They're in there," he said, his other hand still flying over his keyboard and eyes still trained firmly on the monitor. 

As Mingyu turned to go, Jihoon called out, "Oh, and happy anniversary too, kid."

Mingyu faced Jihoon, shocked. He barely managed a 'thank you', to which the other rolled his eyes, claiming that 'he wasn't all that ill-mannered'.

Entering the break room, he found all of the members of the office, sans Jihoon and Soonyoung, excitedly attempting to pose. They failed and fell over, but Minghao approached Mingyu, who tossed him a pair of board shorts. When Mingyu gave the other a confused look, the Chinese man just smiled and gently said, "Wonwoo told me to tell you that you'll need these where you're going next."

Mingyu thanked the shorter man ad ran out of the break room to the nearest bathroom, where he hurriedly changed again. He threw his clothes in the car, and headed off to the one place he suspected, the place where it all began.

                          -

Mingyu got out of the car and stepped onto the soft sand, smiling. A volleyball was suddenly tossed at him, and he barely had time to register the fact before his hands moved up to catch the ball.

"Not bad," a low voice called out. "Your reflexes have certainly gotten a lot better since we first met."

Mingyu looked up from the ball, a brand new one, and his heart melted as he saw his boyfriend, shirtless and getting closer to him by the second. "Hi," he said, all thoughts of murdering the other disappearing from his mind.

"Did you like the scavenger hunt?" Wonwoo asked.

Mingyu replied truthfully. "I liked the pancakes a lot."

Wonwoo chuckled, looking down. "Well, I know it's our anniversary, so I thought I'd bring it back to the start, full circle and all that cal, you know?"

Mingyu blushed, drawing circles in the sand with his big toe.   

"Aaand since it's our anniversary, and we're at the beach, I thougt now would be a good time to maybe...springasurprisemarriageproposalonyou?"

Mingyu furrowed his brow, confused. "What?"

Wonwoo shook his head, chuckling. Dropping down to one knee, he smiled up at Mingyu, who had his hands clapped over his mouth, eyes shining. "Kim  
Mingyu," he said, "would you do  
me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me?"

Mingyu rushed in to hug him, all smiles and happy tears. "Of course, you hoe. Wouldn't want to spend it with anyone else."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's that for the meanie, folks
> 
> i love sehun and he aint even my exo bias really im so sorry
> 
> gah this was crappy but yeah


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief history of Minghao and Jun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew k im hella tired rn how do people write fluff  
> also happy bday suga bby we love u yoongi

Minghao's alarm clock blared, and he reached a tired, skinny arm out from under his sheets to turn it off. Groaning, he pulled himself out of his warm, inviting bed unwillingly and padded softly to his kitchen to fix himself some coffee, not stopping to make his bed.

Pouring his hastily brewed coffee into a travel mug, he stretched and yawned. He headed back to his room to pick out some clothes, change, and brush his teeth while he waited for the coffee to cool down and become drinkable.

Minghao picked out a warm, overly long-sleeved and baggy sweatshirt to go with some stone-washed jeans and the typical basketball shoes.

He made his way out of his pastel-themed apartment into the bright, blaring world with its loud color schemes and people.

One of which was heading his way at that moment.

"Heeey, Minghao," Jun said, slinging a jacket-covered arm over the smaller's shoulders. Minghao just rolled his eyes, not bothering to remove the other's arm. He'd never admit it, but inside, the Chinese boy was blushing heavily.

When he had first come from China, everything felt new and alien. The bright, loud, almost overly friendly contrast from what he had grown up with had given him topsy-turvies on his first day at the office, where he worked in graphics.

And then Jun had introduced himself, and noted that Minghao was also Chinese as well as the other's confusion and homesickness. He took the younger boy under his wing, making sure he was okay when the worst pangs of longing struck. And along the way somewhere, the younger man started crushing on the other.

It started simply, a few months after Minghao became a part of the office. When he had first arrived, he had dragged himself out of bed with the help of good, strong tea and more than a few alarms set. However, Minghao's primary motivation to get up out of bed became seeing Jun.

He started noticing the little things about the older. How he smelled clean and fresh, like the first breath of air on a crisp spring morning. How his eyes crinkled at the corner when he smiled the big smile, the one that showed his perfectly white teeth. How warm his hands felt when they ruffled Minghao's hair. The little things, and yet huge in a way that felt completely new to him, even more so than the new country.

Then he started noticing how much more he felt he could smile around Jun. How much louder his reserved laugh had become with the other. He cared about his appearance to the other, but not to the point where it became more important than simply spending time with Jun, time when he could be himself and speak in Mandarin again.

The only unfortunate part about liking Jun was how long it took for Minghao to realize that the deep appreciation he felt for the other was more than just friendship. And by then, all Minghao could think about was how Jun must be straight, had to be straight, couldn't be anything else, and certainly didn't feel anything out of the ordinary for Minghao other than a kinship originating from their share culture. Not when he treated Minghao like a favored little brother, kind and protective.

Minghao wished he'd stop being so nice. Maybe then he wouldn't like Jun, and Jun would at least see him as something other than a younger sibling. But then again, not only did Minghao not want Jun to ever dislike him, being kind was an integral part of the other's personality.

It showed when Jun would tease Jihoon, but save the last cookie for the short man on a bad day. It showed whenever he stayed up late to help Mingyu, the even newer intern, with learning or a particularly difficult piece of code. It showed when he helped clean up after crazy parties the office held that he didn't even host. Of course, a little extra kindness was always reserved for Minghao, but the thin male wanted all of Jun's attention to be focused solely on him.

As he and Jun walked to work that morning, they made small talk, minor questions and trivial answers. It didn't matter, not to Minghao. He treasured simple, candid moments like this when he didn't have to think about work, or other people, and could just focus on Jun.

At work, he sat down on his chair, spinning in it a few times for good measure before switching his monitor on and pushing the power button on the main computor. 

Soonyoung's face popped up over the wall that separated their cubicles. "Hey, hey, hey!" he said excitedly, jumping up and down slightly as he said it.

Minghao rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. "What is it, Soonyoung?" 

It's not that he didn't like the other. He did. It's just that where Jun was earnest, Soonyoung was overeager. It was a bit much for the quiet, calm Minghao to handle.

"There's a party at my place," Soonyoung started. "Now, I know you don't normally go to these sorts of things and that you went last time, but here's the thing: Jun's going too!"

Minghao sighed. Sengkwan and Soonyoung (and therefore Seokmin) were the only ones who knew of his crush on Jun, and they seemed to think that the mere mention of Jun could get Minghao to do things that would normally be way out of his comfort zone. Unfortunately, they were right.

He glanced at his Rilakkuma-themed workstation (it was supposed to be a prank by Soonyoung but Minghao ended up loving the gentle color scheme and keeping it) and sighed again. "I'll go," he muttered reluctantly. 

Soonyoung clapped his hands enthusiastically. "Great!" he exclaimed. "Now I can use 'Minghao is going' as an excuse to get Jun to go!"

Minghao frowned. "Wait, you mean Jun wasn't going to go?"

Soonyoung glanced over his shoulder as he raced in the direction of Jun's cubicle. "I'm sure he is now!"

                         -

Jun called Minghao before the party to confirm that, yes, the younger is indeed going and that he needs a ride, which Jun was more that happy to provide.

In Jun's pristine Ford, Minghao ran his hands over the black leather seats and shiny smooth wood finish. Jun chuckled.

Minghao looked up from the dials on the radio. "What is it?"

Jun shook his head. "Nothing," he waved it off. "You're juust really cute, inspecting the car like that."

Minghao blushed to the tips of his ears and looked out the window.

                          -

Four people who did not work at the office attended Soonyoung's party. The youngest introduced himself as 'Dino, ultimate Michael Jackson fan'. Up next was Vernon, who had more Western features but still fit in seamlessly with the group. Jisoo was nicknamed 'Jisoos', as in Jesus, and everyone cracked up. The last, Wonwoo, had been invited by the new intern, Mingyu, and Minghao smiled, seeing how much Mingyu liked Wonwoo.

When they played Truth or Dare he wasn't  particularly worried; he'd always used the same strategy of passing on dares and just asking for truths, because he never really felt that he had anything to hide.

So when it was his turn towards the end of the night to be asked the all-important question, he replied with a quick, "Truth," and left it at that, bracing himself for whatever strange inquisition Seungkwan could think up. What he wasn't expecting, however, was for Seungkwan to shake his head disapprovingly and force him into a dare.

"Kiss anyone who's in this room."

Minghao knew he was done for once he heard that; there was no way he could avoid kissing Jun but also no way to know what the other's reaction would be. So he did what seemed most natural and leaned over to Jun for advice when he looked up to see the other with a light frown on his handsome face.

Instead of asking for advice, Minghao decided to do the risky thing for once. He breathed in and leaned up to brish his lips against the other male's.

To his (very pleasant) surprise, Jun kissed back, softly, gently, kindly, but earnestly, just like his personality. Minghao melted a little bit more inside (as though he weren't already a very gooey mess) and smiled, even after they pull apart, blushing like mad to the whistles and claps surrounding them. Jun pulled him in for a hug, which Minghao happily reciprocated. Later that night, fingers entwined, Jun confessed that he had liked Minghao for a long time and had realized what his feelings were sooner than Minghao.

In all honesty, though, Minghao was just really happy. Happy because Jun liked him back. Happy because Jun kissed him and called him absolutely adorable. Happy because the next morning, he'd be able to wake up with his wonderful boyfriend beside him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, I guess that's the end of this fic! I had a lot of fun writing it; I never expected to write 15 days' worth though haha. Thanks ever so much for all of your support, kudos, and comments, they made me feel all fuzzy inside like geez  
> i have an idea in mind for a jikook multichapter but eyy life, yeah?  
> Right, thanks again and hope you enjoyed!


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